What if you never needed to remember to add money to your Wallet Balance? Now, you don’t. With the latest version of Google Wallet you’ll be able to add money automatically to your Wallet Balance and set up Low Balance alerts, so that you’ll always have money in your Wallet Balance when you need it.

Add Money Automatically 

Today, we are announcing a new way to add money to your Wallet Balance automatically through recurring bank transfers. The feature is secure, and will give you fast access to your money, with no Google Wallet fees.

With recurring bank transfers, adding money to your Wallet Balance takes care of itself. Simply schedule a recurring transfer from your bank account right into your Wallet Balance, and never worry about adding money to your Wallet Balance again. Choose the amount, set a schedule (weekly, bi-weekly or monthly) and you’re all set. Money will be added to your Wallet Balance automatically, and you can cancel your transfer at any time.

                       
There are no fees or minimum balance requirements for your Wallet Balance. And rest assured, your money is safe. Your Wallet Balance is backed by 24/7 fraud monitoring and the Google Wallet Fraud Protection Guarantee, which covers 100% of any transactions made without your authorization. If your device is lost or stolen, you can easily disable the Google Wallet app online or by contacting Google customer support.

Set up Low Balance Alerts

With Low Balance alerts, you can keep track of your Wallet Balance and make sure you have enough to pay for the things you need, or to send money to friends and family.


Spend your Wallet Balance in stores by swiping your Google Wallet Card at millions of locations in the US (including the District of Columbia) where Debit MasterCard® is accepted*, or use it to withdraw cash from an ATM. You can also use your Wallet Balance to Tap & Pay with any Android device running Kit Kat or higher at hundreds of thousands of locations throughout the US, on any mobile carrier. And as always, you can use it to make online purchases on Google Play, Google Express and anywhere you see the “Buy with Google” button.

Download the new version of the Google Wallet app on the Google Play Store and the App Store rolling out this week in the US, to use these new features.
Posted by Andrew Waterman, Product Manager, Google Wallet

* The Google Wallet Card is issued by The Bancorp Bank, Member FDIC, pursuant to license by MasterCard International Incorporated. MasterCard is a registered trademark of MasterCard® International Incorporated. See Cardholder Agreement for details.

One year ago, the first Google Shopping Express order was delivered—a box of granola. Our idea was to make shopping your favorite local stores as easy and fast as shopping online, and to help you get what you need delivered the same day. Since then, you’ve told us how we helped you restock diapers in the nick of time, made sure you had Bananagrams for family game night, and even made you feel connected to the outside world when you were home sick. Along the way, we've expanded to new locations, brought on more merchants, and offered more products. And now, we’re adding to the program you love.

More cities, more stores and more products
Starting today, we’re expanding to three new cities: Chicago, Boston, and Washington, D.C. Across all our cities, more than 7 million people can now access our same-day delivery service, and in Northern California almost 12 million can use our next-day service.

We’re also adding more merchants: 16 in total over the last couple of months. We’ve added national brands including 1-800-Flowers, Barnes & Noble, Nine West, PetSmart, Vitamin Shoppe and Sports Authority, and regional merchants such as Paragon Sports in New York and Vicente Foods in Los Angeles. In our new markets, we’ve added regional brands including Stop & Shop in Boston; Giant Food in D.C.; and Lux Roses, TigerDirect, Treasure Island Foods and Wrigleyville Sports in Chicago.


Additionally, customers in the Bay Area who are 21 and over can now order alcohol. Cheers (and please drink responsibly)!

Express membership
Starting today, shoppers who decide to become Google Express members will enjoy:

• Free same-day or overnight delivery on eligible orders over $15.* 
• First dibs on delivery windows
• Shared membership with a household member

Membership costs $95/year or $10/month. Or you can choose to pay as you go, at $4.99 per eligible order. Learn more on our Help Center. Either way, we don’t add any hidden markups, so you pay the same price for your stuff on Google Express as you would in-store.

New shoppers can try the first three months of membership for free. You can cancel it at any time, so it’s easy to test it out and decide if you like it.

A shorter name
We've also noticed people referring to us as "Google Express"—and we love it. So as of today, we've simplified our name. Plus, we've added a punch of color to our parachute:



With more cities, more merchants, and more of your favorite items, Google Express is on its way toward making your life easier by helping you get even more errands out of the way. We hope to give you more free time—and we can’t wait to hear about all the things you do with it.

Posted by Brian Elliott, Head of Partnerships, Google Shopping

*Free delivery means no shipping & service fees. Same day or overnight depends on availability of delivery windows. Eligible orders are $15+ before taxes/fees in select delivery areas and exclude restricted items. Service fees apply to ineligible orders. Pricing may change. Requires active membership subject to terms & conditions.

With October kicking off this week, the holiday shopping season is just around the corner. According to our recent research, 29% of shoppers plan to start their holiday shopping before Halloween. With this in mind, we’ve put together a Holiday Shopping Checklist filled with the season’s best practices for retailers to maximize performance across both Search and Shopping campaigns. In addition to our checklist, here are the top holiday trends from last year and tips from the Google Shopping team on how to make this Q4 a good one.

Address increased shopping demand today. Last holiday season, traffic sent to merchants from Google Shopping doubled year-on-year.¹ This momentum has continued and in July we saw traffic sent to merchants surpass last year’s peak holiday traffic from Google Shopping.² Not only has consumer interest increased, but it is also beginning earlier. Our research shows last year consumer interest in Black Friday was up 27% from 2012 and related searches started about a week earlier than the prior year. Get the most out of this high volume shopping period by establishing your marketing goals early and using our checklist to help achieve them.

Connect with mobile shoppers. The best way to connect with your customers is to be there whenever and wherever they are looking for your products, and increasingly this is on mobile. Mobile devices drove 35% of all traffic to retail sites in the US last holiday season, and this is expected to increase to 43% by November 2014.³ Globally, Google Shopping sent over 3X more traffic to merchants on smartphones in holiday 2013 year-on-year.¹ Make sure you plan for a significant proportion of your shoppers to be mobile this season.

Provide fresh and accurate information to customers. Pricing and shipping are two of the most important factors for shoppers when making a purchase online.⁴ Update and resubmit product feeds regularly to  ensure that customers see consistent pricing and inventory information across your Product Listing Ads and website. Improve the customer experience by using automatic item updates to update your items on Google Shopping based on the data we find on your website. If you offer free shipping, include messaging in your text ads or use the new Merchant Center shipping configuration tool to reflect this in your Product Listing Ads.



Differentiate from the competition. With strong competition during the holidays, promotions are a key driver in determining consumer purchasing decisions. This was evident last year, as 92% of all shoppers took advantage of some type of promotion.⁵ Consider how you can differentiate your messaging by highlighting a strong promotional offer or unique value proposition. Make your Product Listing Ads stand out by using merchant promotions and provide an additional stamp of credibility for your business by becoming a Google Trusted Store. Provide additional value for shoppers by displaying product ratings on your PLAs. According to Diana Ruka, Senior Director of eCommerce at COACH, product ratings have provided “added value beyond price points or descriptions - they convey a message without need for words- they provide distinction.”

Example of merchant promotions, product ratings and the Google Trusted Stores badge displayed on Product Listing Ads

For more holiday tips and best practices, check out our Holiday Shopping Checklist or join us for our Learn With Google Hangout on Air on October 30 at 10:00am PST for more holiday optimization tips.

Posted by Shelby Coyne, Product Marketing Manager, Google Shopping

1 Google Internal Data Q4 ‘12 to Q4 ‘13.
2 Google Internal Data Q4 ‘13 to Q2 ‘14.
3 IBM Online Retail Holiday Readiness Report, June 2014.
(Note: IBM’s definition of ‘mobile devices’ includes smartphones and tablets.)
4 Shop.org, Holiday Planning Guide, February 2014.
5 Baynote Holiday Shopper Survey, January 2014.

Fall is here, and the holiday season is right around the corner. While this time of year comes with lots of celebrations, it can also come with a never-ending holiday shopping list. Here's how Google Wallet can help you save time and speed through your shopping list safely this holiday season -- and all year-round.

When you're shopping in stores
Google Wallet works with all credit and debit cards. Use your Android phone (running Kit Kat or higher) to make Tap & Pay payments on any mobile carrier, at hundreds of thousands of stores in the U.S. including Toys”R”Us, Babies”R”Us, Walgreens, Petco and many more. Just look for this logo:


If you don't have an Android phone, you can swipe a Google Wallet Card everywhere Debit MasterCard® is accepted in the U.S. And because we don't want you to miss a good holiday deal, Google Wallet lets you store coupons, loyalty and gift cards right on your phone.

When you're buying online
Speed through online and mobile checkout wherever you see the “Buy with Google” button, at merchants like Priceline, Jack Threads, NewEgg and many more. Simply press the "Buy with Google" button to check out in as few as two clicks.

When you need to send money
With Google Wallet, you can send money to anyone in the U.S. with an email address. Send money from your phone with the Google Wallet app, or in Gmail from your desktop by clicking the $ sign in your attachments bar.

Keeping your money safe and you in control
Google Wallet sends you a real-time notification after each transaction. This not only helps you keep track of your spending, but also provides an additional level of security. And if your phone gets lost or stolen, you can remotely disable the Google Wallet app at wallet.google.com.

At Google, we take fraud protection seriously. Google Wallet stores your credit and debit card information on secure servers, not your phone, and encrypts your payment information with industry-standard SSL (secure socket layer) technology. When you use Google Wallet to Tap & Pay, we don't send your real card number to the merchant. Instead we send a virtual card number along with a one-time-use security code. Google Wallet is also backed by 24/7 Fraud Protection, which covers 100% of unauthorized transactions.

Google Wallet is an easy way to speed through your holiday shopping. Download Google Wallet today on the Play or App Store.